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PolyGram Filmed Entertainment
PolyGram Filmed Entertainment (formerly known as PolyGram Films and PolyGram Pictures or simply PFE) was a British-American film studio founded in 1980 which became a European competitor to Hollywood, but was eventually sold to Seagram Company Ltd. in 1998 and was folded in 1999. Among its most successful and well known films were An American Werewolf in London (1981), Flashdance (1983), Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), Dead Man Walking (1995), The Big Lebowski (1998), Fargo (1996), The Usual Suspects (1995), and Notting Hill (1999). In 2017, Universal Music Group established a film and television division, resurrecting the Polygram Entertainment name. History PolyGram Pictures The music company PolyGram (owned by Dutch-based Philips and Germany's Siemens) created PolyGram Pictures in 1980 as a partnership with film producer Peter Guber. It was a spin-off of sorts to Casablanca FilmWorks, the film unit of PolyGram's Casablanca Records which Guber previously ran and had success with The Deep and Midnight Express. PolyGram reserved the finances and Guber would run as CEO. Guber would form a partnership with Barbra Streisand's hairdresser Jon Peters, who co-produced his client's A Star Is Born remake. Peters would produce PolyGram's films, and eventually become a stockholder with Guber.Griffin, Nancy and Masters, Kim (1996). "Hit and Run" (pp. 100-116). New York: Touchstone, a Simon & Schuster company. Its first film was King of the Mountain (1981), which was a box-office flop. More money-losers followed. Ancillary markets such as home video and pay television were not yet established, and broadcast television networks were paying less for licenses to films. PolyGram's European investors were not happy; they had lost about $80 million on its film division. Not long after, Siemens parted with Philips. Guber and Peters left PolyGram Pictures in 1982, taking their plans for a new Batman movie with them, along with a few other projects. The duo eventually found a home at Warner Bros. A part of their exit proceedings, PolyGram would still own 7.5% of profits from some of its projects, including the 1989 Batman film. PolyGram Filmed Entertainment In the early 1980s, PolyGram Video was launched. PolyGram Video, headed by Michael Kuhn and David Hockman, was created to distribute concert films and feature films acquired from third-parties, as well as long-form music videos. Kuhn and Hockman were able to parlay PolyGram Video's success into financing feature films. The first film produced by PolyGram's new film division was P.I. Private Investigations in 1987.Kuhn, pp. 17-23 During the late 1980s and early 1990s, PolyGram continued to invest in a diversified film unit with the purchases of individual production companies. In 1989, PolyGram launched Manifesto Film Sales to handle the licensing of films outside North America.Kuhn, pp. 40-41 In 1991, PolyGram's Michael Kuhn became the head of PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, with US$200 million pumped in with the intention of developing a European film studio that could produce and distribute films internationally on a scale to match the major Hollywood studios. Following the style of its music business, the company produced films through a number of creatively semi-autonomous 'labels', such as Working Title Films in the UK and Propaganda Films and Interscope Communications in the United States; It also built up its own network of distribution companies. Film production within PolyGram differed from traditional Hollywood studios, in that power to make ('green light') a film was not centralised in the hands of a small number of executives, but instead was decided by negotiations between producers, management and marketing. Kuhn claimed that "movies sort of green lit themselves." PolyGram also built up a sizable film and television library that could be profitable. In 1995, the company purchased ITC Entertainment for $156 million. Through this purchase, PolyGram acquired 350 feature films, several thousand hours of television programming, and gained further access into the television market. In 1997, PFE agreed to purchase the Epic film library, which included a thousand feature films, from Crédit Lyonnais Bank for $225 million. PolyGram also attempted purchasing MGM and The Samuel Goldwyn Company's library, but to no avail. PFE was based in the United Kingdom, and invested heavily in British film making — some credit it with reviving the British film industry in the 1990s. Despite a successful production history, Philips decided to sell PolyGram to the beverage (liquor) conglomerate Seagram in 1998. Only interested in PolyGram's music operations, Seagram, which at the time controlled Universal Pictures, looked forward to divesting in PFE. After being dissatisfied with offers to buy the studio (including a joint venture between Canal+ and Artisan Entertainment), Seagram opted to sell off individual assets and folded whatever remained into Universal. In October 1998, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (through Orion Pictures) paid $235-250 million to acquire 1,300 films released before March 31, 1996 from PolyGram. . In 1999, the ITC library was sold to Carlton Communications (later known as ITV Studios) for $150 million. Some of PFE's North American distribution assets were sold to USA Networks. Universal Pictures now owns the rest of the post-1996 films (beginning with Barb Wire) and PolyGram Television. PolyGram Filmed Entertainment took over the distribution of Manga Entertainment's titles in Australia and New Zealand in late 1996 after Siren Entertainment's license to the Manga Video catalogue expired, but PolyGram lost the license to the Manga Video catalogue in 1998 after Madman Entertainment took over the licenses. This was due to Manga Entertainment being moved from Island Records to Palm Pictures. Production companies * Working Title Films (UK), acquired by PFE in 1991. * Propaganda Films (US), acquired by PFE in 1991. * Interscope Communications (US), acquired by PFE in 1994. * Gramercy Pictures (US), launched by PFE and Universal in 1992. * ITC Entertainment (UK), acquired by PFE in 1995. * Rogue Pictures (US), acquired by PFE in 1997. * A&M Films (theatrical film division of A&M Records) * Island Pictures (theatrical film division of Island Records), acquired December 1994, closed 1997. * Cinéa (France) * PolyGram Video * PolyGram Television * PolyGram Visual Programming Distribution company In 1992, PolyGram partnered with Universal Pictures to create a joint venture called Gramercy Pictures. Gramercy primarily distributed PolyGram films in the USA, and it doubled as a specialty label for Universal. In 1997, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment Distribution was founded to release PFE's mainstream titles in the USA, while Gramercy became a low-budget/art-house sublabel. After PolyGram's merger with Universal in 1999, the company merged Gramercy with October Films to create USA Films, which eventually became Focus Features. Selected films Among the films directly produced by PFE were: 1980s 1990s 2000s See also * 100 Films and a Funeral, a documentary film about the rise and fall of PFE. References Further reading * Michael Kuhn, One Hundred Films and a Funeral: The Life and Death of Polygram Films, Thorogood, 2002. . Category:Companies Category:Film production companies of the United Kingdom Category:Film production companies of the United States Category:PolyGram Filmed Entertainment films Category:Entertainment companies established in 1980 Category:Film distributors of the United Kingdom Category:Film distributors of the United States Category:Companies based in Los Angeles County, California Category:Defunct companies based in London Category:Entertainment companies based in California Category:1980 establishments in England Category:1999 disestablishments in California Category:Universal Studios Category:Companies established in 1980 Category:Companies disestablished in 1999